Debating Federalism: Conservative False History and Hypocrisy vs. Progressive Collaborative Federalism

From Progressive States Network

Conservative state leaders have promoted legislation in states across the country claiming that the health care reform law is an unconstitutional overreach of federal power.  While just a handful of the bills were enacted (and most were roundly rejected in states where they were introduced), these attacks on the federal health law are the most prominent example of increasing right-wing legislative agitation declaring various federal laws and actions a violation of the constitution.

Right-Wing "States Rights" Bills:  Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming have declared that federal firearm regulations don't apply to weapons manufactured in those states.  Utah has rejected not only the federal health care reform bill, but declared federal lands subject to state eminent domain and asserted the "inviolable sovereignty of the State of Utah under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution."  Alabama, Alaska and Wyoming have joined Utah in passing resolutions generally denouncing the supposed violations of their state sovereignty.  And right-wing legislators have introduced bills to institute a "constitutional tender" requiring a gold standard for money in their states, declaring federal cap-and-trade proposals unconstitutional, making it a state crime for federal agents to arrest anyone in a state without permission from a county sheriff, and more generally nullifying claims by the federal government to regulate most interstate commerce.

Challenging the Right-Wing Constitutional Narrative: The challenge for progressives from this "states rights" movement is not that any of these laws are likely to survive in court, but that conservatives too often get away with claiming to stand for constitutional values without significant challenge from progressives.  The reality is that the right wing has no credibility in promoting their states' rights arguments and should be challenged more directly.  As this Dispatch will outline, their arguments fail on multiple grounds.

• First, conservative constitutional history is dead wrong.  The progressive vision of collaborative federalism between federal and state governments clearly reflects the "original intent" of the Constitution's creators  - including those who promoted the Constitutional Amendments enacted throughout our history.

• Second, conservative leaders are constitutional hypocrites, talking about "states rights" even as they support federal laws that restrict state authority in order to protect corporate special interests.

• Finally, unlike conservatives, progressives practice real respect for state authority by promoting and supporting state innovation and flexibility, a far more compelling practice of federalism than the rigid and false constitutional doctrine promoted by the right wing.

Progressive legislative leaders need to clearly engage the public and promote our story of a Constitution that was meant to promote a vigorous federal power in promoting equal rights and the general welfare, even as federal leaders should respect and strengthen the capacity of states to take action beyond minimum standards set by the federal government.

Continue reading here.